Mien San Noodle House

Looking for noodles in the San Juan area and tired of the usual North Park / Hap Chan fare? Introduced to me by my Taiwanese friend, Mien San serves cheap and honest (Taiwanese?) food. Since you won't find the usual Cantonese dishes most Filipinos are familiar with, take the opportunity to try out new things. Start with the Tofu with Century Egg, which pairs well with fried Mantou. Get some dumplings while you're at it; they come cheap, at around P50 per eight-piece order. Don't bother looking for soy-sauce with calamansi. In Mien San, they serve the dumplings with a dipping sauce made of black vinegar and soy sauce (my best guess). And then the noodles. Either dry or with soup, the noodles go for a bit more than P100 for a large order. I usually request that the noodles be split into two or three bowls. I always get the Sour Pepper Noodle Soup or dry Spicy Cha-chang Noodles. It's hard to spend more than P150 per person at Mien San. Find it along Ortigas, to your right when traveling from EDSA to E. Rodriguez, after crossing Santolan. It's a bit hard to spot so keep your eyes open for "Feet 'R Us" foot spa, which is right next door.